


Last Chance

by Hathor_girl



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tok'ra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 17:22:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7649761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hathor_girl/pseuds/Hathor_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new alien race has almost conquered everyone in the Milky Way. Sam has one last chance to fix it. </p><p>Minor Sam/Martouf/Lantash. Mention of past Sam/Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tok'ra Kree! Round 9 
> 
> This prompt:
> 
> 115\. SG-1, Samantha Carter, any, starts post-series, maybe around 2030 or so. A really bad new enemy has appeared and the Galaxy has fallen. They have slowly infiltrated everyone (sort of a parasite or noncorporeal lifeform that can take over people). Those with symbiotes can sense them, like they can the retou, but after the Jaffa killed off the remaining Tok'ra and Goa'uld, no one is left to sense them and they were not discovered in time. The aliens spread some poison gas or radiation or something which Sam is slightly more resistant to, due to changes from Jolinar. She is chosen among the last survivors to go to a new-found alien device, send her consciousness back in time to her younger self, before the aliens took over everyone and everything. If she survives long enough to get to the device.

Alpha site. Summer 2030.

Daniel and Teal'c helps Jack limp into the room, and to sit down in a chair, while Cam slams the door after them and locks it.

Sam and Sheppard walks over to them, while Colonel Paul Davis stays in his chair behind his desk.

"That's all?" Davis asks.

"Yeah, no one else made it," Cam confirms.

"I told you that you should've just left me there!" Jack complains. "I'm told old to risk it for!"

"Shut up, Jack," Daniel says, looking to Sam. "Any news?"

She shakes her head. "No, sorry. What about Malek?"

"He's dead." Cam sighs. "Nothing we could do."

"Then we're finished," Davis exclaims. "No one left who can sense them!"

"Preciously few left to save at any rate," Sam says. She takes a deep breath and runs a hand through her greying hair. "Did SG-7 return?"

"Not yet..." Daniel is interrupted when Sheppard makes a guttural sound.

"John?" Sam asks, frowning.

A hoarse laughter comes from Sheppard. "Not any more! Foolish humans!" He whips out a sleek black weapon from a bag standing in a corner and shoots Teal'c.

"He's taken over!" Cam shouts.

They all hit the floor as fast as they can, with the exception of Jack who moves too slowly, and Sam who instead jumps Sheppard - or the alien who has taken him over.

With an unhuman growl the alien throws Sam clear across the room, and he would have fired at her if Cam had not been faster and hit him over the head with a chair. The alien shimmers briefly and disappears, then reappears at the other end of the room.

"Dammit! He's manifested fully! Get out of here!" Cam shouts.

"There's aliens outside!" Sam warns.

Davis surprises them all when he empties a machine gun into the alien. The creature screetches and sinks to the floor, then black fluids starts leaking from it.

"Keep away from that crap!" Jack warns.

The fluid seeps into Teal'c who lies on the floor, apparently dead. Moments later he stirs and gets up in a jump, and goes directly for Davis, grappling his throat.

The others hit the alien with all that they got, and 'Teal'c' falls over Davis.

The others pull him off, but black liquid has started to soak into Davis.

"Ki-kill me!" Davis croaks. "It's...overtaking me..." He looks at Sam. "Execute order 15A. No...no other cho...ice."

They kill him as the alien overtakes him. Cam, Sam, and Daniel jumps back and Cam grabs his firethrower and burns Davis and all the other bodies.

Finally, the room is silent, except for their exhausted panting and the unnerving sounds from the outside.

"What now?" Daniel asks no one in particular after a long time has passed.

"Colonel Davis said to execute order 15A. Do that," Jack says, looking hard at Sam.

"You're not in command any longer, Jack," Sam says. "And Davis wasn't my superior."

"No, but he was in charge of the Alpha site."

"I am in charge now." Sam looks around. "Not that there's much to be in charge _of_."

"SG-7. If they ever return." Cam reminds her.

Sam nods. "That's a pretty big if."

"What about your ship? The George Hammond is still intact, isn't it?" Jack asks.

"Yes - and in the hands of the enemy." Sam admits. "My CO had become one of them - and slowly turned everyone."

"Lucky for you that you can't be turned," Daniel observes.

"Yeah, well. That's the only advantage being a former host gives me. I'd prefer I could actually sense them - but only live symbiotes can do that." She sighs. "None left of those anymore. Not after first the revenge attacks from the new Jaffa government, and then the war against the Litillians."

"Never thought I'd miss the damn snakes," Jack observes. "But then who could have expected us to be invaded by _worse_ parasites?"

"No, the Litillians make the Goa'uld look like small-time bullies." Daniel looks to the charred corpse of Sheppard. "Never thought he'd have been taken over by them. Sheppard, I mean."

"Why not? We all could be - except Sam." Jack looks stubbornly at Sam. "One more reason you should enact 15A. And as quickly as possible."

Sam hesitates. "You know what it means. I don't think we're there yet."

"If the eggheads are right, it's a chance to change the timeline. What is it you think would get worse?" Jack says.

"Changing the timeline isn't something to be done lightly." Sam sighs. "But you're right. There isn't a whole lot left to lose." She looks around at Daniel, Cam, and Jack, thinking 'except the three of you'.

"We'll keep the Litillians occupied while you make a run for the rings. The cloaked teltac is still in orbit, isn't it?" Cam says.

Sam nods slowly. "Yes, last I checked." She sighs. "Listen guys, I know the changes Jolinar did to my body protects me a little, but I doubt even I can make it to the device without dying. Not without a protective shield."

"Sorry, there aren't any left. You'll just have to try," Cam says.

Sam sighs. "It's too bad the damn Litillians managed to detonate one of their devices so close to the time travelling machine - and that it opened up a lava river just beside it. Which I guess makes sense - the machine runs on geothermal energy, so it it had to be in a place where that is close to the surface."

"Well, at least it means _they_ are unable to even get to it now! They're even more sensitive to the heat and radiation than we are. The Litillians can't destroy our means of changing the past - only make it hard for us to reach the machine." Daniel offers.

"Right. Okay. Let's do this then. Tomorrow morning." Sam decides. "Do we have any MREs left? I'm starving!"

* * *

"Sam?" Jack says. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Sam nods. "Sure, what is it?"

He looks in the direction of where the two others are getting a small amount of sleep before next morning. "Listen, I'm glad we're still friends. Even after... you know."

"Me too." She smiles a little. "We were both idiots. To think that I spent years thinking I wanted you, and then when we got together, it didn't last a month!"

"Yeah, well. I wasn't much better. I think it was the whole forbidden part to it." He smiles and pats her arm. "Friends." He sighs. "Sam, if you do succeed in making it back - could you tell me? And yourself? Maybe I'd have a chance of getting back together with Sara then."

Sam nods slowly, hesitantly. "Jack... I'm not sure how far back in time I'll end up - or how long I'll live if I even make it there. Depends on how badly damaged I'll be from the heat and radiation. The scientists who studied the device didn't have much time to do so before the Litillians attacked, so I also only have a very tenous grasp on how it works."

"I know." He smiles. "I still have complete confidence in you. _Carter_. You've always been the one to save us."

She looks at him a little embarrassad. "Thanks - I just really hope I can do it one more time."

* * *

"Good luck, Sam!"

"Thanks - you too!" she tells them before crawling out through the ventilation shaft. Behind her she hears the others make a lot of noise and pretend to open the welded shut back door. Hopefully it would keep the aliens occupied for long enough that she could flee to the room with the rings.

Machinegun fire behind her soon tells her the aliens are attacking her friends. She closes her eyes for a moment, then continues on. Their only hope lays in her making it - she knows she has to!

She makes it safely to the exit into the room where the rings are located. She looks through the grille of the ventilation and seeing no one she carefully opens it and slides out.

Her feet is barely on the ground before strangely looking, six legged creatures attack from behind some boxes. It's the aliens in their fully mature natural form, she knows.

Sam fires at them with her machine gun as she runs to the rings and starts coding in the sequence. One of them makes a jump at her just as the rings come down, and is whisked away to the teltac with her.

She screams as the creature bites viciously into her right thigh, and she feels her head reel as it injects some of the black fluid that contains its essence, and takes over people, or even transforms them if that is most suitable for the aliens.

She empties her clip into the alien and kicks it back into the ring circle while it is stunned. It is not killed, she knows that. It takes a lot more. She hits the controls and sends it back to Earth, then stumbles to the bridge. She almost falls against the panel, but manages to push the activation, and the ship's engines starts up. She pushes 'auto' as she slides to the ground, unconscious.

The teltac speeds out of the star system on the course programmed in weeks earlier - on course to the planet Wunar, where the time travelling device had been found.

* * *

Sam slowly wakes up. The naquadah in her blood, and the other changes to her system that Jolinar did so long ago, have finally won against the alien retro-virus, and she is still herself. She screams out in pain as she tries to get up, and puts weight on the leg.

She pulls aside the torn pants from her right leg and looks at her thigh. The bite from the alien is leaking a dark substance - the virus which her body is rejecting. Her entire thigh is feverishly hot and a dark blue-red colour. Nothing to do about that right now, Sam knows. She eases herself down into the pilot's chair, and tries to focus on the controls. She has a high fever, she realizes, her body still battling the last of the virus.

Convinced the ship is going in the right direction, she gets up and limps to the back of the ship, to find a medi-kit. She injects herself with something she hopes will help against the virus, and then drinks from a vial which contains a drug she remembers from Jolinar is used to strengthen symbiotes. She just hopes it will help her too.

Exhausted, she makes it to one of the make-shift beds and collapses on top of it. She is asleep before her head touches the pillow.

* * *

Groggily she wakes up. There is some sound. She realizes it is the alarm from the teltac, informing her she is approaching the planet she was going to.

She frowns. That should have taken three days! She couldn't have slept for three days, could she?

Soon she realizes she has - her mouth is dry and she needs to pee like crazy. She stumbles to the bathroom, taking care of both. Her leg still hurts, but less, and the fever is down. She checks on her leg. The bite is still very obvious, but the flesh around it is slowly returning to a more normal colour. She pulls the tan cloth of her pant leg together as much as she can, but decides against wasting time on trying to find something to stitch the cloth.

Then her stomach screams its hunger at her, and she finds an energy bar to munch on as she walks to the bridge, sitting down in the pilot's seat.

Her ship is cloaked, which is a good thing. Several of the alien's ships are in orbit. She lands as close to the entrance to the time machine's cave as possible. It is well within the area that the aliens cannot enter, even with protective gear.

She gathers her courage and opens the door. A wave of heat slams against her from the lava rivers flowing nearby. That is not the worst. She knows the radiation is so high that it will kill her in hours - or less.

There is nothing to do about that, and she sets off in a run towards the cave entrance. Inside it is almost hotter than outside, and the entrance itself is starting to melt. Soon this place will be gone, Sam realizes, melted down into the molten core of the planet. If she had arrived a few weeks later, the aliens would have already won.

Sam makes it through the long corridors, and finally into the alien lab with the time machine. By then she is dizzy and weak from the heat and the radiation. She coughs and blood comes up. She shakes her head to clear it as she walks up to the alien device. What had the scientists said? How to set the time? How to activate it?

'Damn!' she tells no one in particular as she sees the power level on the machine is down. The lava flows that it taps for energy has shifted, and it looks as if there is no longer enough power for sending even one person back.

'I wonder what this means?' Sam thinks as she notices the symbol for 'secondary transport only' having lit up. That it s less safe?

The idea was to go back at least five years, to warn of the Litillians coming. Or ten years, if possible, to stop the Jaffa from slaughtering the remaining Tok'ra with the Goa'uld - one problem had been that so few were left to sense the aliens's presence.

Sam realizes as she looks at the controls that she is not sure which are years, months, and days - or even how long the aliens's year is. She shakes her head at her confusion. She knew this before, didn't she? Is she so close to death already? She is wracked by a cough and feels blackness threaten to consume her. If she is to try and go back it has to be now - or never.

Deciding to gamble, she punches in a time sequence, hoping it means ten years. The device lights up and makes a warning noise.

Sam frowns, looking at the panel. 'That means not permitted? Why is it not permitted?' She tries again, and gets the same result. The symbol for secondary transport is flashing. 'So maybe it's because it is low on power,' she decides. 'And in secondary mode it can't go back very far.' She feels nausea come on and throws up, mostly blood. She wipes her mouth and feels even more woozy and her head is starting to hurt like crazy.

'Okay - let's gamble that this is three years, then, and that it can go back that far.' She punches in another sequence and hits the activate button. 'Here goes nothing!'

A humming noise fills the chamber she is standing in and a light plays over her. Blackness consumes her.


	2. Chapter 2

She come to and realizes she is running, or rather _was_ running and is now stumbling. Nearby someone shouts at her, and more distant a familiar sound, a Stargate being dialled. Shots zip past her, and someone shouts again at her. Angry voices are approaching from behind, many of them.

She can't focus. Her head is spinning, and she can't see clearly. She shakes her head to clear it, but it just hurts worse. Who is calling? She is so dizzy that she runs in the wrong direction, then stumbles and falls.

Bad luck means she slides out over the side of a ravine or something and tumbles downwards, hitting rocks and bushes on the way down. She is unconscious before she reaches the bottom.

* * *

Sam slowly wakes up. She is feeling cold, and when she moves she realizes much of her body is hurting, including her head. She tries to remember, but only gets vague memories of voices, and of falling.

She manages to sit, and then to stand. She looks around in the near darkness. The wind is picking up, and raindrops are falling. Wasn't she just somewhere very warm?

Supporting herself against a large rock, she straightens up. She remembers being dizzy and falling, and looks up. High above her head she sees an edge of a cliff against the darkening sky. It is very high up and steep, and she immediately abandons any thought she might have had of crawling up that way. The rain is falling faster now, and the wind is blowing through the gorge, making her shiver.

A stream is running along the bottom, making the rocks near it slippery. She stumbles and almost falls, but slowly starts walking, picking a direction more or less at random. It feels like she has broken a rib or two, she is bleeding from a gash in her left leg, and she definitely has a concussion. However, it is way too cold to stay where she is and since she doesn't remember where she is, or even what happened before she fell, she can't risk waiting.

After tying a strip of clothes around the wound in her leg, she limp ahead, hoping to find shelter somewhere, or at least for her memory to return.

* * *

The rain is changing to sleet, when Sam finally finds a place where she can crawl up from the gorge. By then it is completely dark, and Sam has no idea where she is.

Her mind is clearing, though. She is no longer dizzy, and while most of her body is in pain, it is a different kind than before. Her memory has returned, and she remembers travelling back in time, as well as the events that lead her to do so. She feels a pang of pain and loss, thinking of her team mates and friends, knowing they were almost certainly killed shortly after she left them. Or so she hopes, because the other option is that they were taken over by the Litillians, and that would be infinitely worse.

She spots something darker than the sky up ahead, and walks on, hoping it is a forest or a mountain - or something that will give her some shelter. She is wet through to the skin, and colder than she remembers being before, shivering almost constantly.

She wonders at why the nausea and dizziness is gone - or mostly, but what is left is likely from her concussion. The pain feels like physical injuries. She ought to be dying from radiation sickness, like she had been when she travelled back in time, but she can recognize none of those symptoms. It is odd. Just as odd as the fact that she is here - wherever _here_ is - and not on the planet with the time travel device. Why would she have travelled in space as well as time? Unless she is mistaken, and she travelled back much longer than 3 years, and this is how the planet was then. If that is the case, she could be millennia in the past, and all would be lost. She would not be able to do anything to help.

Finally she reaches the dark massive ahead, and it turns out to be a mountainside, which is much too steep to crawl over, and from what she can tell goes on for miles in either direction. Feeling along the rockface, she discovers a crack. Examining it, it turns out to be more than just a crack, but a hollow, almost a small cave.

Grateful she has found some shelter for the wind and sleet, she squeezes inside and goes as far in as she can. It is high enough that she can stand straight, and wide enough that she can remove her backpack.

Her backpack? Why did she not notice that before? She is certain she left her backpack in the room with the time machine. One more oddity to a long list of oddities, but not something she can worry about now. She rummages through the bag for the flashlight and thermal blanket she always packs.

She finds both - as well as a bunch of other things she is _certain_ she did not pack. Then there are the things she knew she _did_ pack - but which are no longer there. Was she still that sick from the alien virus when she left the teltac? Could she have forgotten what was in her bag?

She grabs an energy bar and wolfs it down, then drinks some water from her canteen before wrapping herself as much as possible in the thermal blanket. She is still shaking, but at least she is protected from the cold wind in here, and the sleet, and the blanket should help her not lose anymore heat at least.

She turns on the flashlight and runs the beam over the side of the small cave. She estimates it is maybe 7 feet tall where she stands, furthest in and only 4-5 feet at the entrance. The space is perhaps 4 feet by 6 feet, at most. Too small to properly be considered a cave.

Sam is getting a little warmer, and with that her leg has started to hurt a lot more. She pulls the blanket aside for a moment and checks it out in the light from the flashlight. Her pant leg is completely torn, and the cloth she tied around the injury is bled through. She checks and finds a bandage in her backpack, and puts that on, but the wound needs to be stitched together, she knows that.

Before she pulls the blanket closely around her again, she notices that her uniform is green, not desert tan. She checks on her right thigh, where the pant leg should be torn, from where the alien bit her. There is no tear there, and that is one part of her body that does _not_ hurt. Nothing is making any sense.

Unless... she suddenly remembers something from the briefing they got on the time machine. A theory one of the scientists had suggested, that the time machine was able to send back either the whole person, or _just_ the consciousness. And that the latter probably took much less energy.

If that was true, then _that_ could explain things. The machine was warning her it did not have enough energy for "primary" or first type of time travel, but it did for "secondary" or just type two travel. Travel where it just sent back someone's consciousness!

Thinking it all through, it now makes sense to her. It explained everything - no wonder the radiation sickness and the bite was gone. Those things had not happened to the body she now... inhabited. Her own, younger body. That is what the scientist had said too. That the machine could only send a consciousness back to the body it belonged in - whether for technical reasons or moral reasons, he hadn't known.

That meant Sam was likely on a planet where she had been on a mission. Wearing green BDUs. When had she last done that? Was three years ago likely?

Somehow she thinks not. She had rarely gone on that type of missions since she left SG-1 and became a commander on first Atlantis, and then _the George Hammond_. So, likely, she had misunderstood the alien symbols, and this could be anytime, possibly as far back as late 2007 - or even further back. Her mind reels at the thought.

She is starting to feel colder again, and the wound in her leg is now aching badly, and her head is pounding. She manages to find some painkillers in her bag, and quickly swallows them with some water. The temperature is dropping, and outside the sleet has turned to snow, and she gets the feelings she is screwed, unless she can get out of here - and soon.

She has no radio - probably lost it when she fell, along with her weapon. Except for a zat, which she still has in its holder.

Her leg hurts way too much for her to attempt to walk now, so with no other options, she wraps the blanket around her and half-leans, half-sits against an outcropping of rock. Not terribly comfortable, but that is probably a good thing. She can't risk falling asleep.

Some time passes, and all she hears is the howling of the wind from the blizzard that is now raging outside. She is starting to feel sleepy, even with the cold and pain. She takes a deep breath, and unconsciously slides her hand up and plucks at her dogtags. Doing so, she realizes she is wearing something else on the chain - a small silvery sphere, looking like jewelry.

She wore it for a long time, to the point of forgetting it was there, until she lost it during an attack, not long after going to Atlantis. By then it didn't really matter anyway, and before she had never used it, since there had never been a situation where she could really do so.

It was a Tok'ra emergency beacon, which could be activated if the wearer was lost or otherwise needed help. It worked through subspace. She had never used it, partially because the times when SG-1 had needed help, the situation was such that calling for the Tok'ra would only have brought more people into harms way, with little chance of help. Partially because she knew Jack would much rather she not use it, if there was any other way for them to escape. And partially because after her dad's death, she doubted anyone would come.

Now, however, it might actually save her life. _If_ anyone actually responded to it. When was this? Was her dad still alive?

She quickly activated the emergency locator beacon, then again leaned back to wait. Hopefully for someone to come - it was getting very cold, and the pain in her head and leg - not to mention her broken rib - was getting worse.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam wakes up, briefly, to the sensation of movement. Did she fall asleep? She tries to awaken fully, but her mind is foggy, and she can't seem to gather the energy to open her eyes. Someone is talking, and she feels as if she should be able to recognize the voice, but she can't concentrate on it.

There is the constant howl of the wind, closer now, so something tells her she is outside the cave. Strong hands are holding her. Who's hands?

She thinks she recognizes the sound of a Stargate dialling, and then she loses consciousness again.

* * *

When she next wakes up, it is warmer, but she still feels immensely cold. The pain is lessened, and she senses someone is nearby. A doctor, perhaps?

Voices again. She tries to focus on them, and catches scattered words and frases.

" **...was a very near thing...** "

" **...healed her leg... broken ribs... severe concussion.** "

" **The frostbite will take time to...** "

" **Someone - bring me the...** "

She know this place, these people, but right now it is too har to focus on. She drifts off to sleep, with the feeling of familiarity.

* * *

" **She is unconscious again,** " the healer says.

" **I will go and contact the Tau'ri. Please inform me as soon as Samantha wakes up, Siof,** " Lantash says. " **It is unfortunate Jacob is on a mission. It would be advantageous to have him here.** "

" **Agreed - and I shall contact you immediately Major Carter is awake.** "

* * *

"Is there any change?" Martouf asks, when he returns to the healers rooms some hours later.

" **She is sleeping, fairly peacefully. I have healed all her injuries.** " The healer looks surprised at Martouf. " **I would have thought the rest of 'SG-1' would have accompanied you?** "

"It would appear there is a crisis - one which may concern us all, if it is not resolved satisfactorily. The Asgard are under attack by something called 'Replicators', and the battle is not going well. Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c, as well as a couple scientists unknown to me, had been transported aboard Thor's ship, to help with the menace. I talked to General Hammond and to Doctor Jackson, who is currently ill and so had not been able to accompany his team mates."

" **I see.** " The healer nods, clearly not very interested.

Martouf studies Sam, who shivers for the second time while he has been there, talking. "Is she still cold? Has she contracted a fever?"

" **She is shivering, because her body has difficulty regulating her temperature after the severe exposure. She is wrapped in warm blankets and is no longer cold.** "

"Can't you do something?" Martouf asks, when Sam shivers again. "Put her in the hot pools?"

" **Normally that is a bad idea, but since she is no longer truly cold, it may help her body thermoregulate again," the healer decided. "You may take her to one of the warm pools.** "

Martouf nods and lifts up Sam, blankets and all, and hurriedly walks off to the nearest pools.

* * *

~She is naked?~ Martouf observes, surprised, when he unwraps the blankets from her.

~ **Probably because her clothing was wet and torn, and needed to be removed anyway, in order to heal her injuries,~** Lantash suggests.

~That makes sense.~ Martouf swallows and does his best not to look at her naked body.

~ **She is beautiful, is she not,~** Lantash observes, making no attempts not to look - which makes it harder for Martouf.

~She is.~ Martouf drops the last of the blankets, and having undressed himself, he slowly walks into the water of the large pool, and starts lowering Sam into the water.

* * *

Sam slowly wakes up. She has dreamt strangely, or hallucinated perhaps. She has felt so cold, but now she is finally starting to feel warm again.

She is submerged in warmth. She makes a soft sound and moves a little, immediately feeling someone against her. She snuggles against the unknown person - unknown, but all her senses is telling her he is intensely familiar. He, obviously she realizes as she presses against him.

He gasps and she frowns, opening her eyes. "Who?" she begins, then sees him. "Martouf... _Martouf_?" Her memories returns immediately and she stares at him with her mouth open. "How...?"

"We got your emergency signal, Samantha, and came for you. You are safe. On Vorash."

"Vorash..." Sam frowns again. "What year is this?"

"Year?" Martouf raises his eyebrows. "Um, in your years, I believe this is the year 2000. Late June."

"Late June 2000." Sam shakes her head. She smiles. "Sorry, this is so confusing." She realizes she is naked, and that so is he. "Uh, we're in the water together?"

"Yes. You were still cold, so we decided to take you here to heat you up."

Sam nods. "Um, thanks. I'm warm now." She blushes. "I think I'd like to get out of the water and into some clothes." She looks up at him, intensely aware of being in his arms. Naked.

She enjoys it very much, and there is nothing she wants more than to remain like this, but she need to figure out some things first. And learn what happened to her team.

"I shall go and get some dry, clean - whole - clothing for you." Martouf says, and climbs out of the water.

Sam can't help herself. She watches as he dries off and dresses, seemingly unbothered by her watching. He grins as he leaves.

Rascal.

* * *

A few hours later, Sam is sitting in Martouf's quarters. She has talked to the high council, and she has been informed of what is going on at Stargate command.

She is worried, because it is obvious Jack and Teal'c - and some scientists she barely remember - is away, trying to help the Asgard. Against the replicators. She should be there, but there is no way she can get there now. If things doesn't work out, a lot could be changed, probably to the worse.

Perhaps she should go to Wunar and be sent back further in time?

She looks up as Martouf enters again.

"I have brought you some food and drink."

"Thanks." She smiles at him. "Martouf - do you know the planet Wunar?"

"Wunar?" He thinks about it for a moment. "Yes, it's one of Kali's planets."

"Kali? Do you know if she has an active presence on it?"

"She does. She has a vassal there, handling a mining operation of some sort."

"Damn" Sam swears to herself in a low voice. Now she can't go there and travel back further to fix the possible problems caused by her not being part of the Asgard fight against the replicators.

"Why are you interested in that world?" Martouf asks, surprised.

Sam shakes her head. "Never mind. It was just that we heard about it and was considering checking it out."

"I would advice against it. Kali is very aggressive against intruders, and her security is high, even for a Goa'uld."

Sam nods. "Don't worry, we'll stay away from it." She smiles at him. "Thanks for bringing the food. I'm feeling pretty hungry."

"You are most welcome. The healer feels you should remain here for a short time longer, so he can check you out again, but I realize you probably want to return to your homeworld as soon as possible."

Sam eats some of the food. "Yes..." She frowns, realizing there's a potential for a lot of confusion now when she has knowledge of the future. Also, how does she convince people to look out for the Litillians, when she has no good excuse for knowing about them? She makes a decision. "Martouf - I... have been having some strange memory flashes. Do you think it would be possible for you to help me with a memory recall device?"

Martouf frowns, but nods. "Of course, Samantha. What kind of memory flashes? I assume they are from Jolinar?"

That was partially true - she _did_ have memory flashes from Jolinar, even if she hadn't had as many in recent year as before. Well, in the future she wouldn't have quite as many, after a concerted effort to suppress it all, since it was just too painful. "Yes. Various scenes from my life - eh, hers. At inopportune moments. I'm worried about being confused during a battle, for instance."

"That would be most unfortunate indeed. Do you wish me to fetch a memory recall device immediately?"

"No. No, I need to go back to Earth first. Make sure they know I'm okay, get debriefed, and such, but I'll be back in a few days, maybe a week at most. Would that work for you?"

"Certainly, Samantha." He smiles at her.

* * *

After eating and then sleeping for a night, Sam feels much better and returns to Earth. By now she is able to remember most of what happened on the mission she was on with her team, and she feels she can get debriefed without anyone getting suspicious. Particularly since she fell and hurt herself, so everyone can understand if she's a little vague on some things.

When she returns it is July 1st, and Jack and Teal'c have just returned from helping the Asgard. Daniel is back on his feet, but still not cleared for a mission. Soon, though.

Janet examines her and finally declares herself satisfied with Sam's health, and the abilities of the Tok'ra healer. Sam goes with trepidation to debrief with Hammond, but it goes well, and she is allowed to go to her friends and team mates. She also asks and is given permission to go spend some time with the Tok'ra, but not until in a week, since there are some things she needs to help with first.

* * *

"It's good to see you're okay, Sam," Daniel says, smiling.

"Thanks - you too. How's the appendix?"

"Gone, and I'm healing.I can even go with you on the mission in a couple days!"

"What mission is that?" Sam asks.

"Still a bit confused, eh?" Jack says. "How's the head?"

"Better, but I did hit it pretty badly. The Tok'ra healer did a great job fixing my concussion, though."

"Mm," Jack says non-committaly, clearly already starting to be set against the Tok'ra. Sam wonders when that started to happen?

"I do not believe Major Carter was party to the information we received from the Eurondans. It happened shortly before she returned," Teal'c says.

"Right." Jack nods. "You're right. Well, it's some pretty advanced humans who have asked for our assistance."

"Ah." Sam says, remembering who they are - and not looking forward to the mission. She has to try and behave like she did the first time - and avoid letting anyone know she knows of their crimes.


	4. Chapter 4

They have just returned from Euronda - and everything had ended up going more or less exactly as it did the first time, so Sam was relieved.

Unless she is mistaken, Anise will arrive in a few days or so, bringing the Atanik armbands for them to test, so she hurries to go talk to Martouf. She is possibly needed on the mission to take out Apophis's new mothership, but she doesn't want to risk waiting any longer getting proof of her future knowledge. It is hard to remember what happened when, and what she is expected to know. It was a near thing that she screwed up on the mission to Euronda, and her friends have already looked funny at her a few times.

She meets the Tok'ra guards by the gate, and is taken to the tunnels. After waiting for maybe ten minutes, Martouf shows up.

"Hello, Samantha." He smiles at her. "Welcome. I thought perhaps you had been unable to come."

Sam shakes her head. "No, it just took a little longer than expected. I hope it's not a problem?"

"Not at all." He hesitates. "I need to go and talk to the Council. Would you like something to eat? We could meet in the mess hall in perhaps half an hour?"

"Sure, I didn't get any lunch, so that sounds great."

* * *

They had finished eating a late lunch, and had chatted during the meal. Sam is feeling happier than she can remember in a long time.

"We can get a memory recall device on the way back to my quarters," Martouf says.

"Great. I really appreciate it." Sam smiles at him.

"There are some vacant quarters not far from mine, which you can use while you are here."

"Thanks. Martouf - you're sure it's not inconvenient that I'm here now?"

"Not at all. I had been given a mission, but it is not one of high importance, nor is it necessary that I am the one to go. I talked to the Council, and they have agreed to let me stay here and work with you instead. Someone else has been assigned to the mission I was to go on."

"Okay." Sam nods.

They go to Martouf's quarters, and Sam sits down on the bed.

"I assume you would prefer not to use the part that shows your memories?"

"No. Actually, I want... need you to see them. In fact, do you think it is possible to record them?"

"Record them?" Martouf asks, surprised. He thinks it over for a moment. "Yes, that should be possible, but why do you want to do that?"

"I... have some memories that I need to show Stargate Command. Nothing that would endanger the Tok'ra!" Sam quickly adds. "Please. I will explain in a moment."

Martouf nods. "All right. I shall go to the scientists and talk to them. They should have something that can be used for recording."

* * *

It was about an hour later when Martouf returned, carrying a small box. "I believe I was successful," he tells her, taking a few small devices from the box.

"Great!" Sam smiles. She watches as he connects the various devices, then turns to her, holding the disk that is to be connected to her head.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes." She grimaces as he attaches the disk. "Listen, Martouf - there is something I need to tell you. About these memories."

"Yes?" He looks at her.

She takes a deep breath. "What I'm going to tell you is going to sound insane, but please hear me out. Using the memory recall device I can prove that what I say is the truth - and with recordings I can prove it to Stargate Command too."

"Understood. I think." He smiles gently at her and takes her hand. "Samantha, I am always willing to listen to you, and to believe you. Please tell me."

She nods. "Thanks. The story is crazy." She shakes her head. "You see, I have time travelled - or at least my consciousness has..."

She began to tell him all she knew about what had happened, and how she came to be there.

* * *

"Yeah, it sounds crazy, doesn't it?" she says, when she has finished her tale.

Martouf looks at her, stunned, then nods. "It is indeed a most unusual tale."

"If you activate the memory recall device, I can prove it. I have knowledge of things that happens in the future, including the near future, which means you can see it happens as I say. Unless things have already been changed. One thing has."

"Yes, you said you should have helped the Asgard against something called Replicators. They still succeeded though."

"Yes, but not as well as they did before. The Asgard are better off than before they came to Earth, but not as much as they should have been," Sam says, sighing. "Hopefully we'll be able to stop the Replicators anyway, but then there is Anubis... and the Ori. And the Litillians..." She shakes her head.

Martouf activates the memory recall device. "Do not despair, Samantha. Perhaps some of this fore-knowledge can be used to create a better future."

"I really hope so." She grabs his hand and holds it, suddenly unable to handle the knowledge he will be killed. And soon, since it's July 10th, and the Tau'ri-Tok'ra summit happens July 28th. The worst day ever, in her personal mind, though she feels ashamed at thinking so, with all the bad things that happens to everyone in the Galaxy. "Martouf..." She sobs, as the memory of shooting him springs into her mind.

Martouf looks at the viewer, seeing what happens. "Samantha?" he asks. "I will be shot? What did I do?"

Suddenly the whole memory plays out as Sam is unable to stop herself, and Martouf watches it. The memory jumps to show later, when Lantash is in a tank, and later in Elliot, dying - and later, when he goes to his death. Sam suddenly throws her arms around him and cries openly.

"Martouf, please, I can't let this happen again! I don't think I can survive it!"

"I will be a zatarc." He shakes his head. "Samantha, when does this happen?" He holds her close to him.

"In less than three weeks!" she sobs. "Anise told me she thinks it happened on Talverna, since you had a mission there a few weeks before the summit."

"Talverna?" Martouf frowns. "I was going to go there, yes, but since you needed my help, someone else was sent instead."

"Martouf, you'd better warn the Council. Make sure no one goes there!" She sniffles. "The future has changed - but this time I can't feel sorry for it." She gives him a bleak smile.

"So'falk will have already left. Please, tell me as much as you remember, about this and about the near future. It will help me convince the Council."

Sam nods, wiping tears from her eyes. She starts to tell him.

* * *

"Wait - one more thing. Egeria."

 **"Egeria?"** Lantash says. " **Our queen?"**

"Yes, we found her on Pangar. In... a couple years. She's being killed slowly by forced breeding and medical experimentation."

" **It is an outrage!"** Lantash exclaims. " **We must free her immediately!"**

"I agree. By the time we found her it was too late, but maybe it isn't yet."

" **I will report this to the Council, as well as show them everything you have told me about zatarcs. We dare not send anyone to Talverna for So'falk, but when he returns he will be examined and put in stasis until we have a way of curing him."** Lantash shakes his head. " **Zatarcs are barely more than theoretical. Anise has talked of them, but that is all. This will be helpful."**

"I'll wait here while you go talk to the Council - unless you want me to come." Sam yawns.

" **No, I have the recording. You should rest. This has been emotionally draining for you."** He suddenly leans in and gives her a kiss. " **I will be back soon."** He hurries out of the room.

Sam looks after him, stunned. Then she smiles before leaning back against the pillows. Maybe things will turn out for the best anyway.

* * *

The next couple weeks are hectic, with the Tok'ra-Tau'ri summit, with Sam working more with Martouf/Lantash recording some of her memories, and with her being debriefed by the SGC. Meanwhile, the Tok'ra have sent a small delegation to Pangar, together with some Tau'ri, and they have gotten their hands on Egeria. The Pangarians aren't happy, but the Tok'ra have promised to find a cure for them - and besides, they gave them no choice. Sometimes being technologically more advanced is a great advantage.

Egeria is better than she would have been in two more years of torture, but she is not well. The Tok'ra are certain she will be, though, and she is healing in a healing chamber, waiting for the day when she can take a host safely again, and spawn more Tok'ra symbiotes.

Sam thinks about what has happened, and the changes to the timeline that has already happened. With the prospect of more Tok'ra the danger from the Litillians is already much less, since they will be able to sense them. She is happy about this.

Of course, what she is most happy about is the change that means Martouf and Lantash did not become zatarcs and will survive - and be hers. She smiles, thinking of their admission of their feelings, and her admission of hers. She also thinks of how much better she felt after talking to Jack, and telling him what future-Jack had said.

She is dating Martouf/Lantash now, and soon they will come to Earth to see some of her planet with her. It will be a wonderful vacation.

Yes, the future truly looks much brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the abrupt ending. Inspiration suddenly took a vacation, and I've been waiting for it to return for weeks. Deadline for the competition is approaching, so I decided to post and try and see if I can come up with a better ending at some point. Maybe. I don't promise anything, though.


End file.
